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3398 Washington Road
Atlanta, GA 30344
USA
773.398.5288
corbett@buildingperformanceworkshop.com
Advanced residential construction and home improvement consulting and owner's advocacy in Atlanta, using the latest building performance diagnostic and modeling techniques and tools. Airtightness, insulation, HVAC, ventilation, moisture, and air quality and EMF consulting for homeowners and building professionals alike.
Home performance articles and stories from the field with internationally respected building forensics guru Corbett Lunsford at the Building Performance Workshop. Hear new episodes of the Building Performance Podcast, see new videos from the Home Performance YouTube channel, and learn all about how diagnostic testing (more than an 'Energy Audit') can make home improvement and new home construction a proven process!
Filtering by Tag: passive
The 3 rules are: don't blow make up air on people, don't blow it on surfaces, and keep the circuit short.
See our own full kitchen exhaust and make up system at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMkvCn1sGvk
See a demo of the calculators for sizing and selecting make up air at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSmwDGxtlHU
1. Tell us about the TinyLab:
Our #TinyLab is a 210 sq. ft. house on wheels we designed and built ourselves to be the best performing home most people have ever seen. It’s supremely airtight, quiet, and comfortable, while also being equipped with the best heating, cooling, and ventilation systems in the world. We’re showing Americans how home performance works with our non-profit Proof Is Possible Tour. There’s this mythology around houses that ‘they all have problems, that’s just how they are’; it’s just not true.
2. How did the TinyLab start?
Well, the dynamics of home performance are based in physics, which is tough to explain- our colleagues have been trying for decades. But these dynamics can have real consequences for your family- they can cause sickness or even death. We thought, ‘how can we show consumers home performance?’ The #TinyLab is what all homes could evolve to be, whether they’re big or small. It’s a critical time for this, since building codes in all 50 states are requiring performance testing.
3. What are the major findings between the relationship of health and homes?
Two major health problems anyone can find out themselves for starters: dampness and carbon monoxide (CO). The symptoms of CO poisoning are ‘flu-like’, but ask yourself how many times you’ve been to the doctor with ‘flu-like’ symptoms and ever been tested for CO poisoning (never, say most people). And though we know dampness causes mold, mildew, dust mites, etc, do we think about what causes dampness? It’s usually air leakage- air leakage is the single biggest problem in most homes.
4. How do you protect yourself from carbon monoxide poisoning?
The only way to be sure is to test. Whole-home performance testing can prove if your gas stove, water heater, furnace, or fireplace are exhausting properly and creating very little CO. We have a Defender ‘low-level’ monitor in the TinyLab. Your normal CO detector won’t always protect you. If it’s what’s called ‘UL-listed’ then it specifically will NOT protect children, pregnant women, ill or elderly people from low-level carbon monoxide poisoning. And it says so right in the manual. Crazy.
5. What are 5 tips you have for any homeowner/ renter reading this?
One: Your home is a system of interacting parts, so anyone who says one product can fix it is lying or naïve. Two: Proof is Possible- act on diagnostic proof before you undertake surgery on your home and before you pay your contractors for measured improvements. Three: airtightness is good- don’t let anyone tell you we should build crappy houses that can ‘breathe’ through the cracks. Four: ventilation is critical- take stale air out, bring fresh air in. Five: Our YouTube channel is called ‘Home Performance’- you can learn tips 6 through 1000 there.
6. What specific diagnostics are recommended for homes?
Great question! Blower door testing is most important- our TinyLab’s test proves that as first-time homebuilders, we achieved the most airtight standard in the world (that’s what makes it so quiet in here). Infrared thermal photos prove our insulation works. Pressure testing proves our home is not sucking air back in through exhaust fans or chimneys. Airflow testing proves our HVAC system’s working as designed. Air quality tests prove our family isn’t being poisoned. Proof is possible. Ask for it.
To learn more about your home’s performance, download the free ‘GeniusBooklet’ at:
https://buildingperformanceworkshop.com/geniusbooklet-how-your-home-works
To see the #TinyLab as it travels across the U.S. on the Proof Is Possible Tour, see the schedule at:
What have we learned designing and building our own forever home? Well, kind of a lot. But we tried to keep it short, so here’s a 40-minute long tour through our brains while we’re still under construction.
We’d LOVE your support to keep bringing all this free education to the world. You can support us for as little as $5/month at: http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
Corbett Lunsford demonstrates how to add 2-ft. eaves to a high performance home enclosure using 475 Building Supply tapes and membranes and ForceField WRB. Check out the sealing products used at: http://FourSevenFive.com
More on this build at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
Become a member and help make the TV show: https://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
Corbett and Grace and their family have built a house that has better control over air leakage than 99.999% of any house ever built, anywhere in the universe. Here's how they found out.
Become a member and help make this show! http://Patreon.com/HomeDiagnosisTV
Learn more about this build at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv
Sneak peek of ‘Home Diagnosis’ Season 2 from this high performance window factory in Colorado.
Quick peek into a great way to marry high performance windows with exterior insulation.
Home Diagnosis TV series co-host Corbett Lunsford shows the installation of the 5 layers of performance control under his family's new house. Thanks to Royal Building Products, Rockwool Insulation, Stego Industries, and the subcontractors who worked so hard to get this right! More at: https://HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-homestead
Corbett digs into the weather barriers, structures, airsealing and insulation layers of the high performance house in Atlanta, which will be featured in season 2 of the Home Diagnosis TV series.
*CORRECTION: Pango Wrap is 15-mil thick, not 20, but is still a 0.01-perm vapor barrier.
Learn more about these high performance materials: